Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box score

OWENSBORO, Ky. – Not this time, Kentucky Wesleyan.

With history beckoning Saturday night, in the form of a possible third loss of the season to Kentucky Wesleyan, the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team responded in big-time fashion with a huge road victory.

Torrid shooting from 3-point range keyed NKU's 61-51 victory against Kentucky Wesleyan in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday. Stephanie Hodges drained four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points for the Norse, who were 9-for-13 from behind the arc and avenged two regular-season losses to sixth-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan.

Sadie Bowling scored 16 points and buried a trio of 3-pointers for seventh-seeded NKU, which improved to 18-9 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament. The Norse also avoided losing to the same team three times in a season, something that has happened just once in the program's history (NKU lost to Quincy three times in 2003-04).

Casse Mogan added 14 points for NKU. Mogan and Bowling each netted 10 points in the second half as NKU built a 13-point lead. Mogan, a junior guard from Circleville, Ohio, now has 1,059 career points.

Hodges made a trio of 3-pointers in the second half to spark the Norse. Kelsey Simpson added eight points off the bench for NKU, which won despite committing 24 turnovers. Bowling, Mogan and Kayla Thacker each collected five rebounds for the Norse.

Amanda Harnist scored 11 points to lead Kentucky Wesleyan, which ended the season with a 17-9 overall record. The Panthers shot just 29.3 percent from the field. NKU also held Kentucky Wesleyan standout forward Katie Behrens to just six points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field.

NKU will meet Indianapolis on Friday in the quarterfinals at 9:30 p.m. (Eastern time) in St. Louis, Mo. The winner of that game will face top-seeded Quincy at 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.